The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been awarded
$1 Million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
(ARPA-E). Led by Professor Ya Wang, the funding will be used to develop a Synchronized
Low-Energy Electronically-Chopped Passive-InfraRed (PIR) Sensor for Occupancy Detection
(SLEEPIR), an inventive occupancy sensing solution, for residential homes for detecting
high accuracy human presence.

This non-mechanical oscillating technique, together with an advanced machine learning
algorithm, is designed to address issues associated with high rates of false alarms
in existing PIR sensors - a long-time complication in high-accuracy occupancy detection.
This technology relies on the use of an “optical chopper” which temporarily interrupts
the flow of heat to the sensor and allows the device to detect both stationary and
moving individuals. The team will evaluate several approaches for the chopper, such
as new low-power liquid crystal technology with no moving parts. They will also apply
new signal processing techniques and machine learning to the infrared data, enabling
differentiation between pets and people, and potentially sleep vs. active states.

“Professor Wang’s research is critical to helping us understand how smart materials
and machine learning algorithms can form intelligent systems in far-reaching applications,
such as wireless sensing, advanced actuation, and energy harvesting,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos,
Dean,
College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “I congratulate Professors Wang and Longtin, and thank them for their work to power
a greener world with the development of highly impactful energy technologies.”

The Stony Brook team received this competitive award from ARPA-E’s Saving Energy Nationwide in Structures with Occupancy Recognition (SENSOR) program,
which supports innovative and highly accurate presence sensors and occupant counters
that optimize heating, cooling, and ventilation (HVAC) of buildings while reducing
cost and slashing energy use. SENSOR project teams can take advantage of existing
low cost wireless and electronic communication technologies and could reduce HVAC
energy usage by 30% while simultaneously addressing user requirements for cost, privacy,
and usability.

“Professor Wang’s represents the fifth ARPA-E award for our Department , and her second,” said
Jeff Ge, Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering. “This rapid build-up
of our energy research program would not be possible without SUNY 2020 faculty hiring
program that helped us recruit Professor Wang and other talented young faculty and
achieve the department's teaching and research mission.”

Stony Brook’s project is one of 15 ARPA-E projects that will develop a new class of sensor systems to enable significant energy savings
via reduced demand for heating and cooling in residential and commercial buildings.

Further details on the SENSOR program can be found HERE, and details on the 15 projects can be found HERE.

About the Researchers:

Ya Wang’s (PI) research interests span a broad range of topics in the fields of smart
materials, and intelligent systems, with integrated advanced sensing, energy harvesting
and machine learning algorithms. She joined the Stony Brook faculty in 2013 and holds
a PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Visit her research
lab’s webpage:
Nanomaterial Energy Harvesting and Sensing Lab.

Jon Longtin (Co-PI) is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His
research interests include two-phase heat transfer systems, building energy systems,
waste heat recovery, and sensors for harsh environments. He joined the Stony Brook
faculty in 1996 and holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California,
Berkeley. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of New York. Visit
his research lab’s webpage:
Thermal-Laser Laboratory.